Everyone loves holiday gatherings, but not everyone knows how to dress for them. The truth is looking fabulous and not cliche does not have to be complicated. The best thing to do is wear something festive yet not distracting, and to be comfortable but not frumpy. Here are some ideas regarding what to wear to a holiday party.

First of all, don’t be afraid to wear something that you can wear to work or another occasion. There is nothing wrong with a multipurpose outfit that happens to have red, green or other popular holiday colors. As long as you put thought into it, you will look put together and people are likely to notice the appropriate color choice.

High-end fabrics such as satin work well for nice gatherings. They tend to look sophisticated, and can brighten the entire outfit. Stick to colors that are similar to precious stones, and don’t limit yourself to emerald and ruby. Just aim to look good, not necessarily match the decorations!

Ladies, don’t forget to wear jewelry and give thought to your accessories. Gold or silver earrings, necklaces, bracelets, or rings, along with the right shoes, handbags, and hair clips or pins can really add class to your holiday attire. Choose a focal point and please, don’t go crazy with glitter or sequence.

For New Year, Thanksgiving or Christmas you can use the seasons as inspiration. Think of the holiday foods and the autumn leaves when you choose colors. Match neutrals like brown or black with deep seasonal colors like orange, red, or purple. Use a rich material like cashmere and you will have a very elegant look.

Lastly, don’t forget that you need to be comfortable. Avoid wearing clothing that is too tight, hot, or awkward. At the same time, don’t just throw on a huge sweater that will make a tent over your body. You can look put together and be comfortable at the same time.

Hi Kathi,

I just saw you in a link with Natalie from Mind Movies and am looking through your website for answers to some of my questions. One that I don’t find an answer to is about the best colors for me.

I was color analyzed 20 or so years ago using the Color Me Beautiful method and was told that I’m a spring. I have fair skin, hazel eyes and (back then) I had strawberry blonde hair. With age my hair has significantly grayed and although I color it, I opt for a more blonde rather than strawberry color. I find the color fades so Read the rest of this entry »

“I have my fascinator and nothing to wear!” This was the comment from a friend just a few days before Opening Day at the Del Mar Races. Loving a good challenge, I knew this would be a fun assignment!

For those of you wondering what a fascinator is, it is a delicate headpiece typically worn off to one side of your head and secured by either a comb, clip or headband.

As you can see from this photo, the neutral colored fascinator, that was to be the base for an entire outfit, was lovely. It included the three common elements of most respectable fascinators; feathers, beading and flowers.

So, off we went to the mall with only a two hour window to pull together an entire outfit. My goal was to create a perfect outfit that included a cocktail dress, shoes, jewelry and wrap which would make the headpiece pop and sizzle.

The perfect dress needed to be simple so as not to overwhelm the fascinator but also classic, lightweight and without a lot of sparkle since it was for a summer daytime event. I was able to pull a classic sheath dress that was   tucked and fitted with perfect pleating in all of the right places to show off her curves. It included a floral print which gave a design nod to the flower in the headpiece. This dress was simple but curvaceous and cut at classic knee length once we adjusted the hem up an inch.

Once the dress was selected (with a few minor alterations pinned) I was able to focus on the other missing pieces. Beginning with shoes in mind,  I wanted to pop one of the bright colors in the dress pattern and searched for either blue, purple or magenta. The platforms found were ideal as they matched the fuschia/ magenta within the dress. They also added texture and interest because they were suede.

Many women would not choose suede shoes for a summer outfit even if they did include a peep toe, as these do. I loved the suede because I always include the three elements of color, texture and shine in each outfit I create. Including all three elements is a subtle but telling statement that the entire outfit is intentional. Because I wanted a bit more texture, suede was the perfect choice for this outfit! If you begin to look closely at well-put together women in passing, you will see that all, or most, of them have coordinated all three elements of color, texture and shine in their outfit.

Amazingly, we were able to locate a nice lightweight wrap in the same color as the shoes. Having these colors match, along with higher heels, elongated the stature of this woman. The fuschias on both ends of her stature created a vertical line which elongated her figure. I also suggested that she wear her wrap vertically over her shoulder when it was not in use, to avoid a horizontal cut across her frame. Unless we are over 6 feet tall and need to gain weight, all of us benefit from a longer visual line!

After finding shoes and wrap,  the only big missing element was shine. It is sometimes easy to add shine with necklace or earrings. I was immediately drawn to a large floral statement necklace with a bit of rhinestone bling that worked with the outfit but was perhaps too much of a statement for my friend. Later, I selected a double strand of ‘freshwater inspired’ costume pearls that were in the same color family as the beading on the headdress.  Add in a pair of double drop earrings and the outfit was nearing completion but still asking for a bit more of the ‘shine’ element.

The shine element was finally complete when my fabulous store helper shows up with this gorgeous satin bag, amazingly in the same color family as the fascinator, and on sale!

It is always fascinating and invigorating when I can pull together the ideal outfit within a small window of time. It seems the universe always provides when a clear intention is set. As my client, who is truly a magnificent manifestor said, 20 minutes into our appointment with only two possible dress options, “I know it will work out for me because it always does.”

Here she is with her husband just before they are out the door for a day at the races. We put the entire outfit together in just over one hour! Don’t they both look fab?!

If you are wondering how to manifest great things like this in your life with less effort, check out this website: Mind Movies. It is created by the couple pictured above and is a new innovative and fun way to create vision boards for your dreams and goals. It combines audio, video and affirmations and can play in the background of your computer throughout your day to help you create the life of your dreams.

Hi Kathi,

What colors go best with eye colors?  What Gotchas should I be aware of? Please point me in the right direction.

Thank you very much.

Regards, Lacey

Hi Lacey,

Thanks so much for this question! I am sure many others are also curious.

What I have discovered over the years is that eyes, like hair and skin tone tend to run either warm or cool, so let’s start there.

In order to answer this question and create a game plan you must always also consider the skin and hair color. The combination of all three elements will determine what colors you should wear close to your face.

Carole Jackson, author of Color Me Beautiful originally and ingeniously developed the idea of seasonal palettes and complexions. She makes it fairly easy to determine your seasonality through her in depth descriptions and color photos. You might want to pick up a copy of that book to actually see the colors that I will refer to in this article. I will also write a more detailed article about seasons and colors with and include a link to it at the end of this article once it is posted. Check back in a week or so.

Green Eyes

Green eyes come in a variety of tones, from gray/green, clear green, avocado green or hazel with a gray tone. If your eyes are gray/green, or clear green a cooler color palette will work best to compliment your eyes.

If you have the green eyes with the warmer tones of avocado or hazel, you can create a striking combination by wearing warmer colors.

Brown Eyes

Hazel / Brown eyes often have flecks of gold or green within. They would be considered a warm tone and are fun to highlight because they can change tonality or color depending on what colors are close to the face. Sometimes they can look green, sometimes gold or at other times, simply brown. These eyes work well with warm, muted colors and tones.

Some brown eyes are very dark, almost black/brown. If this sounds like your eyes and you also have blue/black hair and blue undertones in your skin, then you are probably a winter complexion and cool, clear, crisp colors will look best around your face.

Blue Eyes

Blue eyes that are deep blue with gold flecks, blue/green, turquoise will look best in softer, warmer tones.

Blue eyes that are deep blue with white flecks, aqua/ grey, clear blue, or will look best in cool colors.

I explain how to determine which season you are and the colors that will look best on you in more detail in the upcoming article titled: Seasons and What Colors to Wear. Check back next week for this article.

About a month ago,  during a sweater shopping spree, I decided that I am now all about tactile  and ‘soft to the touch’ fabrics. I have always been a cashmere junkie but now it goes even deeper than that. I can no longer take scratchy, stiff or super heavy clothing. The good part of this realization was that it became easier to weed out more items in my closet. If they did not pass the soft and cozy test they were donated to the Community Resource Center and moved onto a better life.

Now, I am sure you are thinking to yourself, soft and cozy does not necessarily jive with fashion forward and you are correct. There are always compromises in the quest for fashion. I still hold fast to my mantra that if you are wearing the right clothes, they should be comfortable enough to sleep in. The right fabric, cut and fit for your body makes all of the difference between comfort and discomfort and looking disheveled or well put together.

As a long time avid fan of microfiber panties, I was very interested when a Adea the clothing manufacturer approached me to try out their new product line. *I have to say, I really like their product line for many reasons.

Back to my initial statement, soft is one of the first attributes I now consider when I add new items to my closet. This manufacturer uses Italian-made stretch microfiber tops that simply feel really great on my body! They feel like a second skin, breathe and are really soft to the touch.

I use the two shirts I own most frequently under other clothes. Unlike other camisoles I have owned in the past, the microfiber of the Adea fabric helps it stay where it should and not roll or ride up thoughout the day.

One of the current challenges with fashion is that necklines tend to be cut very low. As a professional, showing a lot of cleavage is not ideal. Because of this, I frequently advise my clients to wear camisoles under their tops. Most of they typical camisoles prove to be problematical and uncomfortable.

I personally enjoy the cami scoop neck and back because it covers up my bra straps and cleavage at the same time without having to squirm to keep it in place.

The 3/4 sleeve vneck top, hides everything it should (ie cleavage) and flatters in all the right places.  Vneck tops with  3/4 length sleeves are universally flattering. Additionally, the microfiber does not wrinkle so it stays looking crisp and fresh all day long.

Adea shirts are nice enough to wear alone and also perfect for under suitcoats and blouses. All necklines are designed to hide and flatter at the same time with a choice of scoop, crew or vneck.

So, if you enjoy soft fabrics and need a new camisole or two, check out the new Italian line by Adea.

*A quick note ~ I do not recommend any product if it doesn’t provide a solution or benefit for my readers regardless if it was comped, which these were. The products that don’t pass this criteria are simply not reviewed on this website.